Video: Rip Coaches the Squat

[Mark Rippetoe]

Rip Coaches The Squat | Starting Strength Seminar

[spacediver]

Thanks for sharing this, it's a pleasure to watched an experienced eye work in real time.

One thing I've observed about experienced people (and this holds in many domains, not just human movement), is that they require less information than most to make accurate judgments. In your case, you're often able to make diagnoses with a single rep.

Along that line of thinking, here's a question:

Do you find yourself making a judgement about hip drive efficiency by integrating multiple sources of information (bar path, anthropometry, bar speed, arc that hip traces out, spinal curvature, etc.), and getting a real gestalt of the movement, or do you find that it's more reliable to focus attention on a single marker.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know how it works exactly. When I'm doing it I just know. I suppose that means collating multiple inputs.

[Ddtediejm]

I would venture that you have seen "right" enough to know when something is "wrong". You are able to spot the mistakes without thinking about it after years of working in this environment.

[Aslin]

1:19 - we can see the gentleman is squatting and the bar seems slightly asymmetrical to the ground. I was wondering if this is something that would cause concern, as I've noticed my squat has been similar to this. Thanks. 

[Nick Delgadillo]

One thing I've observed about experienced people (and this holds in many domains, not just human movement), is that they require less information than most to make accurate judgments. In your case, you're often able to make diagnoses with a single rep.

Along that line of thinking, here's a question:

Do you find yourself making a judgement about hip drive efficiency by integrating multiple sources of information (bar path, anthropometry, bar speed, arc that hip traces out, spinal curvature, etc.), and getting a real gestalt of the movement, or do you find that it's more reliable to focus attention on a single marker.

I don't think it's a matter of requiring less information. It's a matter of efficiency that comes from having evaluated and corrected movement according to a model a billion times. This is the hardest thing to get new coaches to understand - that it's not about identifying constituent components or problems. It's about having a no-shit understanding of the model and how to communicate in a way that gets the lifter to move according to that model. The understanding part comes from reading this board, watching our videos, and learning the material in the books. The evaluating/communicating part can only be acquired through hours on the platform. These are two of the reasons Rippetoe is better at this than anyone else.

Stef explains this nicely here:

[AndrewLewis]

Do you find yourself making a judgement about hip drive efficiency by integrating multiple sources of information (bar path, anthropometry, bar speed, arc that hip traces out, spinal curvature, etc.), and getting a real gestalt of the movement, or do you find that it's more reliable to focus attention on a single marker.

The discipline doesn't matter; the first part of what you've outlined is close to how characterization works.

1) You start by identifying distinctive points that violate expectation - the SS community call this "deviation from the model". Example: "Oh look, the head is craned upward. That's not good."
2) You are able to understand the implications of the violation in expectation. Example: "The head is craned upward, which is going to kill the hip drive which is going to slow down the bar."
3) You are able to quickly switch from one distinctive point to another. People commonly express this in language as doing "two things at the same time", but you're really just rapidly going back and forth. Example: "The head is craned upward and the knees moved backward horizontally just out of the hole"
4) As 3 and 2 expand, you start to chunk all of these violations of expectation into one or two thoughts. Sometimes, these are called "patterns". The effect of this is that it appears as though people able to do this can think, analyze, and make a decision extremely quickly. However, it's more that large numbers of steps have been chunked into more broad characterizations.
These all develop on a continuum, not as distinctive stages in characterization.

You can see this in all activities where timing is relevant: lifting, BJJ, video games, chess, dance, gymnastics, take your pick. This is why experts/professionals appear to have Matrix/cheating level response time and action.

[Joe Jaloszynski]

Do you find yourself making a judgement about hip drive efficiency by integrating multiple sources of information (bar path, anthropometry, bar speed, arc that hip traces out, spinal curvature, etc.), and getting a real gestalt of the movement, or do you find that it's more reliable to focus attention on a single marker.

YouTube

[Mark Rippetoe]

1:19 - we can see the gentleman is squatting and the bar seems slightly asymmetrical to the ground. I was wondering if this is something that would cause concern, as I've noticed my squat has been similar to this. Thanks. 

Twas of no concern to me at the time.

[Tom Cashmore]

Hello and top of the season to you ! Just watched you coaching the squat, and as I continue to work at it I know that something may be amiss as I coach myself basically doing my best to stay in hips. As I watched an older quite slim fella squat what appeared to be 185 with ease! At 54 yrs old with a few busted parts at 175-178lbs I am struggling to get past 165lbs. Without a real time coach...How do I know if my chest is high? It seems so subtle in the slight change you suggest! Is this possible to get without being coached real time? I worry I will goodmorning the weight up if I drive too much the hips without bringing the chest up simultaneously! I have long legs short torso. Any advice....much appreciated.
Thank you...